Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

MINNEAPOLIS – A Minneapolis man was sentenced to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for the armed robberies of two Speedway gas stations and a Super 8 Hotel, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, on February 4, 2020, Keanu Dewone Ross, 30, entered a Speedway gas station in Columbia Heights, pulled what appeared to be a firearm, and demanded cash from the register and the safe. Ross stole $140 in cash, various tobacco products, and several lottery tickets, before fleeing the scene in a waiting SUV parked several blocks away with his co-defendant, Antoinette Deniece Mae Dobyne, 30. On February 12, 2020, Ross entered a Speedway in Fridley, pulled what appeared to be a firearm, and demanded cash from the register. Ross ordered the employee to the ground and kicked the employee in the face. Ross fled the store with more than $700 in cash, tobacco products, and lottery tickets.  On three separate days in February, surveillance camera footage showed Ross and Dobyne cashing some of the stolen lottery tickets at two different gas stations.

According to court documents, on February 14, 2020, Ross and another man were driven to the area of the Super 8 Hotel in Brooklyn Center by Dobyne in her SUV.  The men entered the hotel and ordered a hotel employee to the ground at gunpoint. Ross and the other man took the employee’s cell phone and car keys, and over $550 cash from the business. The men then told the employee to run from the scene. As the employee fled on foot, he heard gunshots. Officers recovered a discharged .380-caliber cartridge casing at the scene of the robbery. Surveillance camera footage showed the two men committing the robbery as described by the employee. The footage also showed the two men running from the hotel after the robbery toward an SUV and then fleeing on foot after the SUV got stuck in a snowbank. BCPD officers located Dobyne in the SUV at the scene. A warrant-authorized search of the SUV revealed Ross’s wallet and identification, and a black duffle bag full of various tobacco products.

According to court documents, later that same day, Ross was detained during a traffic stop by officers with the Minneapolis Police Department. Officers confiscated a Taurus Model PT738 .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol that was found on Ross’s person along with a large amount of cash. Subsequent forensic ballistics analysis using the discharged .380-caliber cartridge casing recovered at the scene of the hotel robbery revealed that the firearm confiscated from Ross’s person was the same gun that was fired during the Super 8 Hotel robbery. On January 19, 2022, Ross pleaded guilty to three counts of aiding and abetting interference with commerce by robbery and one count of using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He was sentenced yesterday by Senior U.S. District Judge David S. Doty and ordered to pay more than $1,850 in restitution to the businesses that were robbed. Dobyne’s sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.

This case was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Minneapolis Police Department, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Brooklyn Center Police Department, the Columbia Heights Police Department, the Fridley Police Department, and the Hennepin County Crime Lab.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Bejar prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

INDIANAPOLIS – Richard Hornsby, 39, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. 

According to court documents, on December 9, 2020, troopers with the Indiana State Police stopped Hornsby for driving with an expired license plate. Troopers learned that Hornsby was also driving with an expired license and had a handgun in the car. After further investigation, troopers located approximately 175 grams of methamphetamine in the center console and an additional pistol. Hornsby admitted to possessing the methamphetamine, that he intended to sell it, and that he often carries a firearm during times where he will purchase methamphetamine for resale.

Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s Indianapolis Field Office; and Doug Carter, Superintendent of the Indiana State Police made the announcement.

DEA and the Indiana State Police investigated the case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon. As part of the sentence, Judge Hanlon ordered that Hornsby be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for five years following his release from federal prison.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Jayson W. McGrath who prosecuted this case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SCRANTON – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Ramon Williams, age 44, of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced on July 5, 2022, to 137 months’ imprisonment by United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion for drug trafficking and firearms charges.

According to United States Attorney Gerard M. Karam, on May 25, 2022, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of possessing two handguns in furtherance of drug trafficking, and to a separate count of distributing over 28 grams of crack cocaine.  Charges were originally filed against Williams on March 20, 2019.  Williams, however, failed to appear at a Court hearing on December 4, 2019, and absconded from pretrial supervision.  He was located and arrested in Monroe County on March 24, 2022, and later pleaded guilty to the above charges. 

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Stroud Regional Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenny P. Roberts prosecuted the case.

This case was part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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Source: United States Department of Justice News

On July 6, a federal grand jury in Chicago, Illinois, charged a Florida man with aiding in the preparation and filing of false corporate tax returns.

According to the indictment, from 2016 to 2017, Athanasios “Tom” Dimitropoulos, of New Port Richey, Florida, helped prepare and file 10 false corporate income tax returns on behalf of SDA Global Inc. and ABC Group Corp., two Chicago-based corporations he owns and controls. Dimitropoulos helped prepare tax returns that reported inflated amounts of costs of goods sold and deductible business expenses, resulting in both corporations underreporting their taxable income.  

Dimitropoulos will make his initial appearance at a later date. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each of 10 counts of helping to file a false tax return. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department’s Tax Division and U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr. for the Northern District of Illinois made the announcement.

IRS-Criminal Investigation is investigating the case.

Trial Attorney Boris Bourget of the Tax Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick King for the Northern District of Illinois are prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Christopher Matthew Rougeau, 38, of Vallejo, charging him with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on April 20, 2022, Rougeau possessed methamphetamine, a pistol, and a short-barreled shotgun. Rougeau has been previously convicted in California state court of multiple firearm and drug offenses.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Fogg is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Rougeau faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.